270 – Valentine, a priest in Rome under Claudius II, was executed for officiating marriages.
1779 – British explorer Captain James Cook was killed in Hawaii on his third visit to the islands.
1849 – Matthew B. Brady – who became known for his photographs of the Civil War – took the first photograph of a U.S. President, James K. Polk, in New York City.
1859 – Oregon entered the union as the 33rd state, exactly ten years and six months to the day since it was organized as a territory.
1899 – The U.S. Congress approved voting machines for use in federal elections.
1912 – Arizona (a name probably derived from the Papago Indian word “arizonac,” a term meaning ‘place of the young spring’) entered the union as the 48th state.
1932 – The U.S. won its first Olympic bobsled competition (both the two-man and four-man races) at the Winter Olympic Games at Lake Placid, NY.
1962 – First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy gave the first televised tour of the White House.
1966 – Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia 76ers set a National Basketball Association record as he reached a career high of 20,884 points after seven seasons as a pro basketball player.
1972 – The musical, Grease, opened at the Eden Theatre in New York City.
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